


even a god can regret his dealings

by InscribedAnonymously



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Aged up characters, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, M/M, Oral Sex, Romance, Sexual Content, Vague angst, deity!wataru, implied soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 13:36:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20725058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InscribedAnonymously/pseuds/InscribedAnonymously
Summary: Eichi meets Wataru in the hospital and makes a pact to restore his health. Seven years later the bargain has been fulfilled.





	even a god can regret his dealings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SongbirdSonata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SongbirdSonata/gifts).

> Happy birthday Tam! Sending so much love your way!

* * *

Wataru heard the crunch of gravel under the carriage’s wheels well before it arrived to drop off his guest. He closed his eyes and smiled to himself, wondering what the great Eichi Tenshouin would think of this place – a far cry from the grand estate Eichi had grown up on. Their meeting location had belonged to his foster parents, a place where they kept birds they’d trained, and where Wataru had first developed a fondness for the creatures. They’d bequeathed it to him out of love – he’d stayed there out of loneliness.

He allowed the quiet to fill him, the air still and expectant as if the building itself shared Wataru’s anticipatory mood. He opened his eyes as the wheels stopped outside and he heard the soft exchange between Eichi and his servant as Eichi was guided to the door.

Wataru rose and opened it himself, nodding to the servant in dismissal as he welcomed his guest inside. The man planned return after sunset to take his master back home. They would be done by then.

Eichi looked around curiously, he had never been to this place before on any of his prior visits.

“Is it a converted dovecote, Wataru? How oddly charming.”

Wataru nodded. “There’s another, more modern structure where my pets are kept. This one, as you know, is a fair distance away from anything and was in need of repair. I decided to reshape it for my use.”

Eichi smiled, a half-curious and half-indulgent thing, as he started taking a closer look. One wall held a small fireplace, its banked heat would have kept the birds cozy and slumberous at night if still in its original use.

Across from it was a single bed, covered with a blanket that looked careworn and faded, but Eichi knew at a glance would be soft and comforting. There was a desk and the niches above it served in place of drawers. A few keepsakes were in other cubbies, and vintage books filled others. Interestingly, several of Wataru’s masks were displayed, arranged to tilt at various angles on the walls and giving the impression that the previous avian occupants had left them there before departing.

It was a madcap, eccentric space, one that showed the varied tastes of its owner as clearly as if it had been drawn up for that express purpose.

Eichi twirled his walking stick in thought. Tilting his head, his blue eyes had an interested, cautious light to them.

“Why here, Wataru?”

He meant any number of things with that question. Why were they there today, why had Wataru claimed such a space for his own, and most importantly perhaps – what was so compelling about this dwelling that Wataru had eschewed the festival being held at the local shrine when normally he was there either as a participant or observer.

Wataru’s laugh was its normal loud, expressive thing, but there was note of affection that revealed his appreciation at how well Eichi knew him to question this.

“I’ll tell you later. For now, tea?” He waved a hand to the small table with two chairs that waited. There was no kitchen here so it had been delivered shortly before Eichi’s arrival.

Eichi took a seat and soon they’d doled out the still piping hot tea into their respective cups. They did not bother with idle conversation, instead the silence was companionable. A testament to their history together.

It was not until they’d returned their cups – with their motifs of birds and flowers – to the table and felt the soothing effect of the tea flow through them that Wataru spoke again.

“I did not think this day would actually come. But it has been seven years since our promise, hasn’t it?”

Eichi’s laugh was light and seemed nearly ethereal in this strange setting as it bounced off the walls. Ah, so that was it. He hadn’t really forgotten; it had just become an omnipresent reality so familiar to him that Eichi wore it like a second skin.

“Is my dear Wataru hesitating? Surely of the two of us, that should be my prerogative, should it not?”

Wataru’s nod was wry and he perched his chin within his hand as he stared at Eichi from across the short distance the table offered. The light purple of his eyes danced with humor and respect.

“You were never going to be like anyone else, even if I hadn’t stumbled across you then. You are correct. If the Emperor is not afraid, then surely this simple magician can manage.”

Eichi felt a warm pull through his body, a careful weight that seemed to press him into his seat.

“Are you using your talent so soon?”

“Eichi…I began long before you stepped in this place. It is the way of this pact.”

Eichi would have nodded but his body felt too heavy. “Everything will change afterwards, hmm?”

Wataru didn’t answer, there was no need to explain just yet. He’d kept this part from Eichi for seven years, a little longer wouldn’t change anything. He simply stood and guided Eichi to do so as well. Their matched height meant a natural, inescapable intimacy as their eyes met and held.

Wataru’s hold around his waist was steady, though it hid the power that was truly contained in his body.

“I want to undress you. Can you bear it?” He wasn’t asking if Eichi could handle being naked, that was a boundary they’d long ago shattered. He wanted to undress Eichi without his magic, he wanted the slow, humanness of the moment to stretch over them both.

Eichi closed his eyes and dipped his head forward to rest against Wataru’s shoulder.

“I’d prefer it.”

Wataru hummed, a soothing, praising sound that held undercurrents of a purr.

He proceeded with the studious, lingering pace of someone worried they’d miss an important detail. Eichi’s jacket was unbuttoned and draped over a chair, the neckcloth unpinned and unwound to bare the pale skin of Eichi’s throat. The linen of his shirt was crisp and it whispered in an enticing rustle as Wataru pulled it down over Eichi’s shoulders and off his arms.

Eichi could feel his skin heating, a curious feeling when he should be cold in this stone room during late autumn.

Wataru spent time trailing his fingers along Eichi’s stomach, moving over the skin in gentle rasps and lingering at the sharpness of his hipbones.

He paused to lift Eichi’s head, holding his chin in place as his other hand slipped between Eichi’s legs, pressing against the growing bulge there and squeezing lightly as Eichi shifted restlessly.

Wataru smiled, enjoying the flush that suffused Eichi’s face and the way he already looked ready to do whatever Wataru asked of him. He released Eichi’s chin and unfastened the trousers but then stopped.

“Go sit on the bed.”

Eichi nearly startled at the sound, having become used to the silence too quickly. He obeyed and was rewarded with the sight of Wataru kneeling on the floor in front of him.

Wataru’s nimble fingers went to the boots Eichi was wearing, unhooking the buttons and sliding them off with an ease that would have inspired jealously in a professional cobbler. A slow, tugging pull had Eichi’s underwear and trousers out of the way and he was bare for Wataru’s perusal. Wataru looked up, his eyes meeting Eichi’s as he pushed Eichi’s thighs farther apart, curling his hands under to raise Eichi’s legs over his shoulders, then pressing a hand into Eichi’s stomach to encourage him to recline.

Wataru’s hair seemed to take on a life of its own as he bent his head to take Eichi’s cock into his mouth. It slid over Eichi’s legs, spilling down over his stomach in gentle, endlessly soft caresses that shifted with the movements of Wataru’s head as he continued.

Eichi’s hands were of two minds. One went to that mass of silvery-blue hair, threading through it in an anxious bid for more. The other automatically went to his mouth, a harsh fist that his teeth bit into with a sharpness that added an edge to his pleasure.

Wataru let him get away with such selfishness, resolved to punish him for it in due time. For now, he concentrated on the first step of this ritual. His tongue was dedicated and eager, rubbing against the sensitive spots that made Eichi raise his hips and cross his ankles against Wataru’s back. His fingers were busy tracing the heated, tight skin below Eichi’s dick, the heavy fullness of Eichi’s balls demonstrating his need.

His pace was steady, nearly methodical, and he ignored the way Eichi called out to him – that lovely voice pleading, demanding, coaxing, bargaining – all the deliciously frustrated levels of his desperation showing in turn.

It wasn’t until he heard those breaths hitch with tears that he backed off and rose above, his hand returning to the saliva-slicked flesh and moving in firm, tugging strokes that were designed to let Eichi finish. He could have let Eichi come with his mouth except for one thing, he wanted to watch.

Eichi was beautiful in any situation. But here, when he was gloriously undone and entirely at Wataru’s dubious mercy, he resembled a chaotic magic that Wataru seldom saw in this world but craved with the entirety of his being. It was all that sensual energy that balanced so precariously against the frailty of Eichi’s health, where he was the embodiment of life and death, that made Wataru’s preternatural heart thrum with satisfaction he could not remember achieving elsewhere.

When Eichi came, his fingers dug into Wataru’s forearm with a strength that would bruise and his voice was a melody Wataru never tired of hearing.

He raised his hand and licked the evidence of Eichi’s orgasm from his hand with the same delicate intent of a cat grooming itself as he watched Eichi’s labored breathing as the blond recovered.

“You’re not giving up so soon are you, Eichi?”

Eichi waved a tired hand. “Do as you like.”

It was entirely too careless of a thing to have said and Eichi perhaps realized that as the air seemed to tighten and Wataru’s eyes took on an electric glow.

The rumble of Wataru’s reply, his voice taking on an even deeper timber, seemed to invade Eichi’s very skin, “As his majesty commands.”

Wataru’s casual reach to one of the little niches above the bed brought back a jar. He opened it and offered it first to Eichi.

“Get yourself ready for me, Eichi. As little or as much as you want. I won’t fuck you until you say you’re ready.”

Eichi shuddered and closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, Wataru was still holding out the jar and Eichi bit his lip, knowing what Wataru was after. He was as excited as he was nervous and pushed himself up against the headboard for leverage, keeping his legs open so Wataru could watch.

He dipped his fingers into the salve, taking a healthy dose and started working himself open. He’d done this before in the privacy of his room when just touching his dick hadn’t been enough, so he knew the pace he liked, the way he wanted to stretch himself and move his hips against his own fingers.

But it was entirely different to do it now, with Wataru watching and waiting. Wataru had undone his own pants and he was stroking himself with the aid of the salve too – and it took Eichi only a moment to realize Wataru was matching his rhythm and it made his thighs tremble with the effort it took to keep them open.

Suddenly Eichi wanted something else and he scrambled – a rare moment of uncoordinated motion – to rearrange his position. He grasped Wataru’s hip with one hand and used the other to bat away Wataru’s hands from his cock, staking claim over his new activity.

“You said as much as I want…I want to prepare this, too.” It was the only excuse he gave before he was sucking Wataru’s dick into his mouth, the eagerness of his attack was entirely unexpected.

Wataru’s surprise did not get in the way of his enjoyment and he felt himself luxuriate in the way Eichi returned the favor. It was cute, in its way, to see how determined Eichi could be in these situations – his stubbornness a façade that would collapse as soon as Wataru nudged it. Wataru wouldn’t tell Eichi this, but the Emperor was just a little too obedient during sex for his own good – it made Wataru want to tease him all the more.

He got his chance as he saw one of Eichi’s hands slip back down, Eichi’s destination more than obvious.

Wataru rolled his hips, a careful calibration that made Eichi either have to back off or take more of him inside. Eichi tried to hold out and the tears that rolled from his eyes as he gagged were endearing.

“That’s enough. Do you have something to say to me now?”

Eichi pouted, unhappy his fun was spoiled so soon and a little embarrassed at what he had to say. The redness of his face set off the startling blue of his eyes and he self-consciously tucked an errant strand of his hair behind his ear.

Wataru’s chuckle was nothing like his usual laugh. It was a private thing that he shared only with the man in front of him, a deeply aroused, nearly growling sound that made Eichi’s skin prickle and his limbs automatically weaken.

“Well then…if you’re not quite ready…we have to keep preparing you, don’t we?”

Eichi wanted to protest that Wataru had changed the rules but his head was already warm and floating and his body was more than agreeable to the idea of being put into Wataru’s care. Wataru saw it as easily as if it had been written on Eichi’s skin and he pushed Eichi back down with a gentleness that belied the hunger running through him.

There was nothing fair after that. He was indulging both of their whims, the emperor that longed to be spoiled and the magician that loved to show his talent. So his body lowering onto Eichi’s became a tempting reminder of how Wataru could use that difference in their weights to torment Eichi, that extra bit of power he could lend, and the suggestive way he rolled his hips against Eichi’s naked flesh was nothing less than a reminder of his helplessness in the face of Wataru’s charm.

Eichi’s wasn’t passive though and his hands roamed Wataru’s body with the familiar effectiveness of their long-standing union, finding the span of skin at Wataru’s ribcage that made his partner shudder, and sneaking around to trace the muscles of his back.

Wataru’s hand slipped down, finding Eichi’s entrance was already soft and ready – beyond what he’d had time to do while there, and Wataru murmured a series of silken questions against Eichi’s ear, “Did you start this morning? Were you so eager to see me that you fucked yourself in that giant bed all by yourself? Tell me what you used, how you managed to muffle yourself…tell me…was it enough to satisfy you, Eichi?”

Eichi couldn’t stand it, Wataru’s fingers were teasing him and reaching farther than he managed, he wanted Wataru to fuck him but knew he couldn’t escape the questions and he started gasping out answers as Wataru found that delightfully sensitive node inside of him – purposefully nudging the gland and making Eichi’s body shiver helplessly in response.

“I gagged myself with a hand towel, it made my jaw ache…I wanted you there, it’s never enough if it’s not you - ah!” Eichi couldn’t stop the exclamation as Wataru’s mouth moved down to lick and worry the skin of his chest in time to the movement of his fingers.

Wataru’s soft, “Keep going” was insistent and meant both his answer and the way Eichi was pushing against Wataru’s hand, something Eichi understood all too well.

“I thought of you and how this afternoon was so far away…I started with my fingers but it wasn’t enough, I needed more.” He stopped, an agonized gasp and bit his lips against a lurid moan.

“And what did you use for more, Eichi? Tell me what you reached for to slip inside of you while you imagined it was me, hmm?”

Eichi’s nearly strangled response was mortified and hungry at the same time, “The…ah!..the paddle handle…” he trailed off as a particularly violent wave of sensation swept through him.

Wataru knew exactly what he meant. Wataru made him keep the paddle in his bedside table so that when Wataru sent a message he needed to be disciplined that Eichi had to know it was right there, waiting to heat his skin, the leathery weight always delivering just what Eichi needed.

Wataru’s reply was husky and full of delighted surprise, “Oh you good boy, that’s just the thing isn’t it? And did you like it? Having something so firm fill you up while you thought of coming here to see me?”

Something in Eichi broke and he was crying before he knew it, “It felt so good I hated it, I wanted you, I always want you, why weren’t you there?” He was sobbing even as Wataru’s hands moved, pushing him higher and higher until he was coming again.

Eichi collapsed even as Wataru was pressing soothing kisses and whispered reassurances over him.

“You know why I wasn’t there, much as I want to be. Are you ready now, Eichi?” And it was different this time – it was sadness and pain and a hint of regret even as it promised another round of bliss.

Eichi shook his head against the mattress even as reached for Wataru and Wataru understood.

There was a care in the way he arranged Eichi’s limbs and readied himself to enter the blond. He was casting magic here, a seal on the pact they’d formed years ago and that he was finalizing today.

They’d had sex before – tenderly, angrily, playfully, slowly, sleepily, hurriedly – it would have seemed there was little left for them to discover. They were proved wrong.

There was a desperation here that little to do with sexual tension, though it was there too, and more with the awareness of what today was. The way they clung to each other was both an argument and a confession that was long overdue and returned in the exchanged cries as they both strove for completion.

When it was done and they both collapsed on the bed, Eichi’s tired, but still self-satisfied comment, “I didn’t have to say it,” drew an appreciative snort from Wataru.

“You said it. You just don’t remember.” It was true, Eichi had asked for all sorts of things, asking Wataru to fuck him was certainly in the list.

Eichi let it pass, instead focusing on the way his body seemed to be shifting.

“Wataru? What is this?”

Wataru shook his head. “Ask me what you wanted to know when you arrived.”

Eichi propped himself on his elbow and looked down at Wataru, a searching expression in place as he slowly repeated the question he’d posed at his arrival.

“Why here, Wataru?”

Wataru smiled, a nearly radiant expression, dimmed only at the edges as he reached up and caressed Eichi’s face.

“Because here I am not just the deity that you made a bargain with seven years ago. Here I am Wataru Hibiki, your very own Wataru Hibiki. And that is the last image I want you to have of me.”

Eichi’s mind had blurred the exact nature of their bargain but it roared into focus then.

Seven years ago, Eichi had been bedridden in a hospital and angry, desperately furious at the world for not having more time in it. A strange visitor arrived, the god in human form who gave his name as Wataru Hibiki, with the tempting promise of health and success in exchange for seven years of service with his body.

He’d accepted, prepared for it to be a jest even as he dared to hope it was real. But Eichi hadn’t remembered – seven years and then he was not to see Wataru again. He drew himself upward into a sitting position and asked, in a careful, fragile way –

“Is there any way to change the terms?”

Wataru winked but it was halfhearted. “Would you miss me that much, Eichi?”

Eichi nodded. “I think I will. I think I missed you before I ever knew you. The past seven years have been the only time I have felt happy.”

It was a painful, dangerous weapon this – the way humans could look at you with their entire heart in their eyes and ask you to stay, even knowing you would hurt them in the end. He had only a mild comfort to offer.

“I suppose, to humans, your lifetime seems an eternity and that this is an inescapable pain. I will outlive you this time, but I will not forget this, either. We bargained poorly, Eichi. I can only plead my own arrogance as an excuse. I can promise you something though, I will find you next time, too. And I will not let you escape me so easily.”

Eichi didn’t understand, just felt his mind going hazy with the last image of Wataru’s sadly determined face following him into sleep.

Eichi woke to the soft tapping at the door, and it took a moment to focus. He didn’t recognize where we was, just that he was reclining on a bed – dressed except for his boots and coat. He was alone.

The servant had come to collect him to take him home. He was apologetic, but he did not know why Eichi had asked to be taken there.

He only knew Eichi had to hurry to make the festival that night – it was in honor of the local deity, a theatrical figure prone to magic tricks and hypnotism, the god who sent doves as messengers and who could be called in the melodies a human’s most secret wish.

Eichi shook his head to clear it and agreed, they needed to leave. He would revisit this mystery another day, surely he was just overtired…but it did not explain why his heart ached and why his eyes felt ready to run with tears.


End file.
